Honey & Sting

Honey & Sting is set 30 years in the future of the year of the play’s performance, a time when it is supposed that a certain amount of genetic manipulation has become as commonplace for most Americans as getting your teeth straightened is today. Melissa is a popular high school junior, a risk-taker who loves “hyper-biking,” and a member of the “Genelect,” a class of people whose genes have been manipulated to rule out problems and add favorable traits. Her father originally had her genes “fixed” to make certain she would not inherit the genetic predisposition that resulted in her mom’s death; but then further to provide certain enhancements. Lee is in love with Melissa even though he and his parents are staunch “Naturals” who are morally opposed to genetic engineering of all kinds, his dyslexia regarded as a character-building attribute. Lee's younger sister, Sofonisba, the play' narrator, is the self-proclaimed "black sheep" of the family, a "biohacker" who alters her skin color, creates nuisance viruses, and mixes up experimental cures for fun. As the story unfolds, the beliefs of both ‘gene-crossed’ lovers, Melissa and Lee, are challenged by a tragic accident, and these young people face a terrible choice – to accept a genetic therapy with inherent risks or not. The action is interspersed with interactive comic scenes featuring four "clones/clowns" who demonstrate the scientific information to frame the debate.